Lesson 04. Managing Passwords

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UNIT: Safety and Security Online. What do students need to know about Internet safety, privacy, and security?

Safety and Security Online: Grades 9-12

Managing Passwords - Overview

Students take a quiz to determine the strength of their passwords. They learn the reasons for building passwords that are hard to crack and practice creating passwords that follow recommended security rules. They devise a way to communicate what they have learned to their families.

Download Student Sheet(s) for printout in PDF format.
Read a Letter to Educators about Internet safety and security from CyberSmart!

Learning Targets

  • I can evaluate personal password practices against cyber security industry and government recommendations.
  • I can apply characteristics of strong passwords in creating new passwords.
  • I can communicate secure password practices to family members.

Home Connection

Download the Home Connection sheet related to this lesson.

Site Preview

The following site is recommended as an optional activity in Teach 3.
An optional strategy for using Web 2.0 tools with your students is recommended under Teach 4.

Materials

  • Student Sheets (2)

Introduce

  • Have student think about how toothbrushes and passwords should be treated similarly. (choose an effective one, don't share it, replace it at least every six months)

Teach 1: Analyze the Problem

  • Distribute Student Sheet 1. Have students think of one of their computer or online passwords and answer the questions in order to find their score. Caution them not to say their password aloud or write it down so others can see it.
  • Informally poll the class to find out which of the ten questions most frequently contributed to a lower overall score. Discuss why these might be problematic. For example, if a majority of the students do not use both uppercase and lowercase letters in their passwords, they may say that shifting to uppercase slows them down too much when they enter passwords.

Teach 2: Think About It

  • Distribute Student Sheet 2. Allow students sufficient time to read and discuss.
  • Allow students to share their own stories. Ask: Have you known anyone who had their password stolen or gave their password to a friend and then regretted it?

Teach 3: Find Solutions

  • Have students try the Build a Better Password activity on Student Sheet 2. Caution students not to use any of these samples as their real passwords.
  • Invite students to share and compare the passwords they created, including the strengths of each. A sample answer for each is below:
    1. $itDitW?
    2. SW&t7Dwf
    3. I:*gpE&gmR
  • Optional Activity: Have students use an online password evaluation tool such as Microsoft's Password Checker instead of the paper and pencil How Strong Is Your Password? sheet.

Teach 4: Take Action

  • Create a Dos and Dont's Tip List for FamiliesHave students create a Password Security Dos and Don'ts tip sheet based on what they learned in this lesson. Plan a way to publish it or distribute it to families, such as turning it into a flier that can be handed out at the next parent meeting or included in a school mailing.
  • Use Web 2.0 tools, such as a wiki, to have students collaborate online in creating the tip list. Then have them post the tip list on a class blog or school Web site and invite parents to view the tips and then post comments.
  • Suggest to students that if their passwords are not strong or have not been changed in the last six months, they should change them.

Assess

The following items assess student proficiency and learning targets.
  • Ask: What are the characteristics of a strong password?
  • Ask: How would you create a password that is easy to remember but hard to crack?
  • Ask: What are some ways to inform families about secure passwords?

Extend

  • Students will benefit by revisiting this lesson each year.
  • For students who completed this lesson in a previous grade, have them research other types of user authentication, such as a security token that generates a new random password for you to use each time you want to log in or biometrics such as face-recognition technologies.
  • Discuss with students that at least one social network researcher, Danah Boyd, has commented that teens don't always get upset when they forget or “lose” their passwords to social networking sites, blogs, and other free sites. Some are actually glad to have the opportunity to begin a new profile and shed an unwieldy set of “friends.”